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Advice & Support

I have recently gone back to work, part time, after having a baby. I have only been back two months and they are making me redundant and moving my job to India, although I am a floater and help out different departments when needed and cover holidays/sickness. No one else is being made redundant. They have based the decision on a scoring system based on appraisals last year. However, I was on maternity leave last year so I did not have an appraisal. Therefore my score is based on an average score. I am also 16 weeks pregnant. Do I have any rights as I feel like I am being punished for having a baby, going part time and being pregnant again? I have been told this process may drag out until October and this is very stressful.

I am returning to work from maternity after taking Additional Maternity Leave. Whilst I was on my keep in touch days the directors had a meeting with both myself and my maternity cover to inform us that there will be some management changes. Although my title will be similar they have taken aspects of the job I enjoy away and have given it to my maternity cover and they have also added duties of a different organisation to my role. Essentially I'll be managing two sites but this will be more admin related i.e hr, payroll staff training etc and the more interesting organisational aspects have been given to my maternity cover. This was raised informally in the first instance where I raised my concerns and I was promised that they will look at my concerns before drawing up the official proposal. The official proposal has been made and the role is still the same and they did not take into account my concerns. I have written back saying I could not accept the position as I feel it will hinder my career development and that it is essentially a demotion. I know the law states that I have to return to the same role as long as it's reasonably practicable. Is it right for them to take some aspects of my role away and give it to my maternity cover then give me an additional sister company to run? Your advice would be appreciated.

I have recently had my flexible work request rejected on the grounds of the inability to reorganise work amongst other staff, putting additional pressure on other members of staff and a detrimental impact on the business. I work in a managerial role, supporting a professional services company. Before I went on maternity leave, the team comprised two managers (of which I am one), a midweight and a junior role. In my absence, the midweight left and was replaced, in an office remote from me, with two very junior roles (only one of which is permanent). I was not informed or consulted. I have been given the right to appeal, but I strongly believe that the team changes have been made deliberately to put me in a position to fail. What shall I do? Do you have any advice? What should I do if it is again rejected?

I took maternity leave in December 2012. I officially returned to work in December 2013 although I physically did not start work until the end of January 2014 as I took all of my holidays at the end of my maternity leave. When I was off, in January 2013 my employer recruited a new employee with the same job title as me doing the same job as me on a permanent basis. They did not fill my role with maternity cover. The company was taken over by its sister company while I was on maternity leave, and my role transferred to a new director in a new structure. However, I was now reporting into the new person that they employed when I was on maternity leave. He still works under the same title as me and has taken all of my contacts and live jobs that I had before I left and made these out to be his own so I've been left having to start my contact and potential list again from scratch. I also have never had official confirmation that I would be reporting into him. Today I received a letter from him telling me my job doesn't exist any more and I have been given notice of potential redundancy. No one else in the new structure has been given notice, only me. I had no warning this was coming either. It shocked me. Do I have any right to appeal?

I am about to finish my maternity leave. Our financial year runs April-March. At the time I went on leave my contract comprised salary + commission based on a regional sales target. I wasn't paid any commission for the Apr-Jun quarter because the sales targets had not been approved and usually the commission rates alter slightly after this. Later in 2013 the entire sales team's contracts (globally) were re-written to comprise (1) salary + (2) commission based on a regional sales target + (3) personal performance incentive + (4) company performance incentive. My on target earnings total stayed identical, but the bonus-related part is now split into three separate incentives instead of one. As part of this, a new performance management framework was introduced during my maternity leave and two review cycles have occurred, both of which I have missed, so I have not had the chance to be assessed. I have been with the company for 10 years and never had anything other than positive performance reports in the past. However, the new assessment framework is much more complex than the old system where only the manager rated the employee.I've done the figures on what I would've been entitled to under my old contract and decided the new one (which I haven't signed yet) puts me in a worse position. I'm not really sure what I'm entitled to as my existing contract said it would be reviewed this Spring, but it wasn't. Does this mean my old contract still applies or is it null and void as of the review date? I've been chasing HR about this for over a year now, but no one seems to be able to give me answers as there is nothing specifically written into the company's policies about how bonus/commission payments are treated for employees on maternity leave. What should I be expecting them to pay? Do I have to sign the new contract (like the rest of my team already have) or can I stand my ground to retain my old contract?